Bordeaux and Life Lately

Hello Family and Friends!

I know it has been quite a long time since I last posted. But that was because November wasn't much of an exciting month for us. Tyler stayed so busy with practice, games, French classes, media/community events and traveling. We were left with very time to do much of anything together. 

Tyler had three long road trips in November. If you look on a map, you will be able to see how truly far we are in the SW region of France. The closest team in the league to us is about 4 or 5 hours away. Yes, that is the closest! So the majority of the teams are much, much further away. Tyler's team will usually fly into Paris for their away games, bus to whatever city they play in (anywhere from 1-4 hours) and then have to bus all the way back to Pau after games. In November, he had two 9 hour bus rides and a 14 hour bus ride! Isn't that crazy?! I feel so bad he has to sit on a bus for that long after playing!

On one of the weekends that Tyler had a home game, his friend Jordan came to visit us. Jordan is from Rochester and plays for a team in France as well. It was really nice to have a visitor! He was able to go to one of Tyler's games and just hang out with us for the weekend. I think it was nice for Tyler to have a friend here for a few days! Jordan is about 4 hours away from us so we are hoping to meet up with him soon in a halfway meeting point in a bigger city to do some shopping and site seeing. It makes things a little easier having people you know around you!

Thanksgiving was just the two of us this year. Tyler had two practices so we ate later in the evening when he was home for the night. Last year was nice because we were able to visit a US Army Base in Italy the week of Thanksgiving and got everything we needed. But I knew that would not be an option in France so I brought things with me like canned pumpkin and stove top stuffing that we can not get over here. We tried to find a small turkey but didn't have any luck so we just got a small turkey roast. That was MUCH easier than cooking a whole turkey and just a right amount for the two of us. 

We were FINALLY able to get out of Pau for a little bit this past weekend and go to Bordeaux. It is an easy two hour drive for us and I am so thankful we got to go. Tyler deserved a little break and I was getting a little stir crazy in our apartment!

Even though it is really hard to be away from home at Christmas time, what I love about Christmas in Europe is that they really make you feel the "Christmas spirit" and you feel like a kid again! In Bordeaux, they had a HUGE Christmas market set up in the middle of the city and there were thousands of people out at the market and shopping in the stores in the center. It was a little congested but it was so much fun. We enjoyed vin chaud (hot/mulled wine) and ate some amazing food from the vendors. We found these sandwiches that were so incredible that we went back and got them for lunch before we left. They were filled with marinated meats, peppers and onions. And I usually hate sauces on my sandwiches, but this sandwich had the best sauce I have ever tasted in my life on it. We might have to get back to Bordeaux just to eat these sandwiches again ;)

We walked around for several hours seeing the sites and getting some Christmas shopping done. After we had walked off our sandwich (or at least we will tell ourselves that) we tried to find a spot to eat for dinner. Every restaurant we walked by was just packed. A lot of restaurants are small in Europe and there were just so many people out that they were all full. We were walking by a little Italian restaurant and I saw a couple getting up to leave so we decided we better go in and take the table. We both miss Italian food so much and although this did not compare, it sufficed. 

We ended the night stopping at a nice bar grabbing a glass of Bordeaux ... because of course we had to while we were there! It didn't disappoint :)

We got up Sunday morning and did a little more walking around and shopping before we left. It was a perfect little getaway and we enjoyed our time together!

Place de la Bourse

Place de la Bourse

Huge Christmas Tree in front of St. Andre Cathedral 

Enjoying some Bordeaux!

St. Andre Cathedral

St. Andre Cathedral

St. Andre Cathedral 

Place de la Bourse

Deliciousness. 

December will be another busy month for Tyler. He has 6 games in a 3 week span. But he will get a break at the end of the month for New Year's. You might have already guessed if you saw my facebook status, but we will be going to Paris for the New Year! We are so excited! We were really hoping Tyler would have enough time for us to go home, but he gets six days and two of them would be spent traveling. Although it would be awesome to get 4 days at home, it would just be a lot of traveling for such a short amount of time. 

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season! Until next time...!

First month in France

Hello again, everyone! Is it really already November? I have already been here for almost a whole month and can't believe how fast the time has gone by.

I don't have anything overly exciting to share, but I can share what our lives have been like this past month that I have been here!

Tyler is extremely busy. His team sure does make use of the player's time! I think he has only had 3 or 4 days off total in the past month that I have been here! He is practicing two times a day, every day and on top of that he is taking French lessons! We joke about how it feels like he is back in college again and goes to class in between practices. The team is providing tutoring for Tyler and the other Americans/Foreigners which is really great. Tyler can pick up some of the language and understand different situations in the countries that he plays in, but it is nice for him be able to sit and learn the language. I would totally join Tyler if I were able to, but I would have to pay for lessons. And they are not cheap! So Tyler just comes home and teaches me the things he learns and it works out pretty well!

With Tyler being so busy, we really haven't had time to do much of anything. We have been able to walk around the center of the city a couple of times but other than that, going grocery shopping is about the only other thing we have time for! It doesn't bother me much though. I keep busy when he is gone by cooking and taking my beauty blog more seriously and connecting with other girls in the beauty community. Doing this whole beauty thing makes me truly happy and it feels really good to be doing something that I really enjoy.

I have been slowly making friends with the other girlfriends/wives. I go to the games with them and we all sit together. I am the only American wife here right now. A couple more will be arriving this month so I am very excited to meet them and their children. The French girls have been really kind and they know English pretty well so it is easy to communicate with them. It is nice to not be the only wife this year!

The weather in Pau has been incredible. It has been an average of 75-80 degrees here and I did not pack for it! My wardrobe is what I would need for the Midwest right now! I know the nice weather won't last though and it is even supposed to cool down a lot this week. Now I can stop wearing the same lightweight clothing!

We just found a movie theater that plays American movies in the original language so we are PUMPED! For real. We love going to movies and we are excited to have found a theater that plays a few different American movies everyday. Last year, if we wanted to go to an English movie, we had one movie to choose from a week. A town 20 minutes away from Forli played one English movie on Tuesday nights. So if the movie sucked, we were out of luck for the week! Now we have multiple movies to choose from any day of the week! It's the simple things, people :)

We got to try our first French macaroons this past week. One word: Heaven! I want to stop writing and go get some more right now :)

As Far as the lifestyle in Pau goes, it is the most "Americanized" city Tyler has played in. It is still very much European, but there are some things that are just more "American-like". People dress way more American here. There is no way for me to explain that unless you have lived in both America and Europe. And if you have, you would know exactly what I am talking about! The grocery stores here are also SO similar to American grocery stores! You have no idea how happy that makes me! You might remember from last year that I would get really frustrated when cooking because there were just so many things that were not available. But there is so much more variety here, just like in the States. I think I have cooked more different meals in the past few weeks that I have been here than I did all last season! We also have a full-sized oven this year! Thank the Lord! Our contertop oven served us well last year, but it is nice to have an actual oven to cook meals in!

Tyler is continuing to do great with his team and works so hard. He impresses me more and more every year with how dedicated and hardworking he is. I love seeing children all the way up to adults get so excited to meet him, get his autograph and take pictures with him after the games. I am proud to be his wife!

We would like to take a trip to Bordeaux as soon as Tyler has some time off. It is only a 1.5-2 hour drive from Pau. Everyone says it is beautiful there and I wouldn't mind trying out the wine ;)

Well, that is about all I have to share for now! We miss you all so much and already looking forward to when we can see everyone again!

Bonjour!

Bonjour from France!!! I am so happy to be with Tyler and back to blogging for the season! It is crazy to think that Tyler is already in his 5th season of professional basketball overseas and sometimes hard to believe this is really our life! Just as I have said a million times before, I am so grateful for everything God has blessed us with and the experiences and opportunities we get through Tyler's career.

A few weeks after I posted my "Mid-summer update" on here, Tyler started receiving some offers and this one from France came in. It was a really great situation for Tyler and he knew this was the right fit for him for this season. I will have to admit I was a little shocked when we sat down and talked about him taking the offer. I just thought for sure after his incredible season in Italy, we would be heading back there again. But this team in France was such a great opportunity for Tyler and I am so excited that we are in Pau this year! He is playing for a team in the top league in France and I am proud of where his hard work has put him this season.

The name of Tyler's team is Elan-Bearnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez (quite a mouthful!) and he is back playing in his college number #30. I was able to see him play this past weekend and it was so good to be back at the games watching him again! This is the first time... in FOREVER... that he has not played in some combination of the colors red, black or white. Ever since I have known him.. and even in his high school days and younger.. he has been playing in those colors! So it is a nice little change to see him playing in green, teal and white!

So here we are in Pau, France! (Pronounced "Po") It is very southwest France and we are only about an hour away from the border of Spain. Tyler has already been to San Sebastian, Spain with his teammates before I arrived and I made him promise to take me there! It looks stunning! As far as Pau goes, I have loved what I have been able to see in the week that I have been here. We are located on the northern edge of the Pyrenees Mountains and I am absolutely loving the view. We can see the mountains from our balcony and it is beautiful. I am definitely going to soak up the breathtaking scenery while we live here! The pictures that I posted on Facebook yesterday are from walking around the center of the town which is also gorgeous. 

I just wanted to write a quick update since I am now finally in France with Ty. We are enjoying being able to spend time together again as he was here for two months before I arrived. I will write more detailed posts in the near future. I can't wait to see what the next several months will bring us and will keep our family and friends updated as time goes on!

Mid-summer update!

I refuse to admit to myself that we are halfway through summer. Have we really almost been home for two months already?! And is it really almost July?! Our time home has absolutely flown by and I can hardly believe it!

We are loving every minute of being home. We are enjoying being around family and friends. It truly is the best feeling! Tyler continues to work out every day to keep in shape for next season and I am back to nannying for the summer. 

I thought I would address how the whole off-season works since we are literally asked every day, multiple times a day, when and where Tyler will be for next season. I know people just have no idea how the whole process works so it's ok that everyone asks! But here is an idea on how it goes!

Tyler typically signs one year contracts with teams. This is very common in Europe for a player to sign a one year deal rather than a multiple year contract. It really is very nice as it protects both sides of the contract. Tyler does not have to be tied down to one team for multiple seasons if he feels like it isn't the best fit for him and vice versa for the team that signs him. 

When his season ends, he comes home and takes maybe one week off to rest (this summer I think he really only took off about 2 days!) and then he is right back in the gym preparing for next season. He is constantly at the gym and I even will go with him to rebound for him while he does his shooting workouts. (I will just pat myself of the back for being the best rebounder ever HAHA)

And then it's a waiting game. A lot of leagues in Europe are just ending now so it really is still pretty early in the summer. Tyler and his agent keep in contact several times a week with potential ideas of where he should try and end up. Offers start to roll in and Tyler considers each one. In past years, when Tyler decides to take an offer, it has been in August and he is gone within 4-7 days. It all happens so quickly and that's just how it is. We would love for him to find out ASAP where he will be going and have a month to hang out and prepare for him to leave, but that's just not how things go sometimes in this business! 

So in a nutshell: Tyler will most likely be home until August or September but where he will end up? Your guess is as good as ours!! It is kind of exciting knowing that you might have a whole new experience and country lying ahead of you and your life changes with one offer/phone call! I would absolutely love to go back to Italy if Tyler is offered a job there! But wherever we end up will be just fine with me. Wherever we go is the result of his hard work and I couldn't be any happier with that!!

The All Star Game and End of the Season

As most of you saw on my Facebook page, Tyler was selected for the all star game. It was held in the city of Mantova, which is only a couple hours away from Forli, so Tyler and I were able to drive there together. I was so happy to get to see him play in it. He was in a couple all star games in Latvia but I was never there when they took place.

The all star game consisted of two teams - the Italians and the foreigners - and from two leagues - the Gold league (Tyler's league) and the league below it, the Silver league. Each team had 12 players. So out of 16 teams in the Gold league, and probably just as many teams in the Silver league, Tyler was one of 12 players selected from all of those teams. I am so, so proud of him! I am so happy that he has had such a successful season and can't wait to see what it is going to bring him to for next season.

The all star game was a big deal for Mantova. There were two earthquakes a couple of springs ago causing a lot of damage to the area. They had signs up everywhere in the arena saying "From earthquake to heart quake" ... now although I don't know the whole story behind it all, basketball is huge in Italy and I think that being the host city for this event was an honor and meant a lot to the city after dealing with the earthquakes. Tons of fans were there and the gym was packed. Everyone was cheering the entire time and you could just tell how much they loved being there. The fans in Italy are something else. They genuinely enjoy the game and they absolutely love the players. I love watching people meet Tyler. It is so sweet to see the little kids meet him. They look at Tyler with big eyes and big smiles and you can just tell they think it is the coolest thing ever!

Now Tyler is down to one game left. ONE GAME!!!! I can hardly even believe it! We are hoping that we will find out this week how soon we can leave after his game next Sunday. We aren't holding our breath though. Usually he finds out with only a couple days notice. But we have both already started to pack :) WE ARE SO EXCITED! Thinking of being home in a couple weeks makes me want to cry from being so overjoyed. I am not even lying. It wouldn't surprise me if I started crying when we land in Minneapolis and I am not ashamed to admit it! I seriously miss home so much! I have been gone for almost six months and that is by far the longest I have ever been away. I have grown a whole new respect for Tyler being in his 4th year of professional basketball and being away from home for nine months at a time. It was very hard on me at times because I had so much alone time. I figured it out that on average, I spend about 25-30 hours a week by myself while Tyler is at practice. Then every other week, more time is added onto that when he leaves for away games. He is the one and only person I have out here so when he is gone it gets extremely lonely! I really, really hope there is another American wife next year to spend time with! So if I want to spend excessive amounts of time with you all this summer, it is because I have a lot of making up to do :)

Overall though, how can I complain about spending six months in Italy? Tyler and I spent part of our first year of marriage in Italy and it was such an amazing opportunity. We got to travel and see so many great places and cities. I would 100%, absolutely love to come back here if Tyler were offered another job in Italy. It is a beautiful country and I am so blessed to say that I lived here.

I will continue to keep everyone updated on anything important that comes up. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read what I wrote on my blog over the last few months. I know I only wrote every so often, but I hope it was interesting for those of you who wanted to know a little more about our life out here. It was fun to do and I will continue to blog in the future! 

Erica and Dan's visit

We were able to have Tyler's sister, Erica, and her husband, Dan, visit us for ten days. And we had such a great time with them! It was so nice to have family out here and now we are just even more anxious to be back home to see everyone! 

We did a lot in the 10 days that they were here. They were able to see Tyler play in 2 games, we went to Pisa, Bologna, Rome, and a tiny little town called Ferentino... which ended up being quite the adventure out of all of them... but I will get to that later in the post!

They arrived on a Saturday evening and we knew that they deserved to relax after a long day of traveling. For dinner, we introduced them to a very traditional food that is very specific to this area of Italy. It is called "piadina". Tyler and I really enjoy it so we thought that they might like it as well and we were right ... how many times did we get piadina, guys?? I would say at least half a dozen times while they were here :) Piadina (Pe-uh-deen-uh) is basically this specific kind of bread that they make, almost like a flatbread or tortilla. You can buy it at the grocery store but nothing compares to the handmade ones that you can go get at a piadinaria (that word is quite fun to say ;)... you can get piadina filled with meats, cheeses, vegetables, anything really! I really love getting "zucca e patata piadina". Im sure you can guess what patata is and zucca is pumpkin. I'm sure that it doesn't sound that appealing but it is one of the most popular piadinas to get here. It is very rich so you can only eat so much of it but it is just so delicious! Erica already tried looking up piadina recipes so we are going to try them out this summer... maybe if they turn out decent I will make piadinas for everyone :)

Sunday Tyler had a home game. Besides the game where Tyler scored the game winning free throws earlier in the season, this was by far the next best most exciting game! They were down by, I don't know, maybe 15 or 20 at one point and they fought back and won. Tyler had a great game with 22 points and 15 rebounds so I am so excited that they were able to see such a great game! 

Monday Tyler had the day off so we decided to go to Pisa for the day. Tyler and I hadn't been there yet so I am so happy the four of us got to experience it together. Pisa is beautiful! What an incredible sight to see the Leaning Tower and churches by it! We were typical tourists taking millions of pictures and we ate lunch right outside the Leaning Tower.

The rest of the week we just relaxed in Forli. We showed them around our town and hung out drinking great Italian wine and playing card games. It was fun to just relax with them just like we would back home!

On Saturday Tyler had to leave for his away game so I took Dan and Erica to Bologna. We walked around for a few hours and they were able to see the beautiful church Tyler and I were able to see a few weeks ago. 

We had been planning to go to Tyler's away game because it was only and hour outside of Rome and we thought it would be perfect to go to his game and then spend some time in Rome on Monday with Tyler on his day off. The three of us took the train early Sunday morning to Rome. We found a really cute hotel and grabbed some lunch before catching the train to the town Ferentino where Tyler's game was. 

Ferentino is literally in the middle of the mountains in Italy. It really is beautiful but it is so small(approx 20,000 people) that the train station is about the size of a two-car garage. We usually buy our train tickets out of self-service machines or at the window where someone is working. After buying them you have to validate them by stamping them in this little machine that hangs on the wall. There was no self-service machine nor was there anyone at the window to buy return tickets back to Rome, yet in this tiny building they had three machines to validate the tickets. We were just cracking up at the fact that they had three of these machines in this shed of a train station but we had no way of buying tickets to get back to Rome. We decided we would handle the matter after Tyler's game and we later found out we could just pay the man on the train who comes around and takes the tickets.

Tyler had given me a number for a taxi so that we could get a ride to the arena. I knew this was probably going to be difficult for me to communicate with someone because I knew that they were not likely to speak English in such a small Italian town. A lady answered the phone and I first asked if she spoke English. She got a man on the phone and I asked if we could get a taxi to the train station and he said "Yes, ok, 15 minutes!" I was like "Perfect! That was not as bad as I thought it was going to be!" 15 minutes rolls around, 20 minutes rolls around, 25..... Still no cab. Clearly the man did not understand me. So I try calling back and no one answers. I called three times and still no answer. So here we are, stuck in the middle of the mountains in some small Italian town. Just great! We were trying to figure out what in the world we were going to do and how we were going to find our way to the arena when my phone starts ringing. It was the lady that I had originally talked to but this time there was no one who "spoke English". She had no idea what I was saying so I started speaking in Italian as best as I could and not to toot my own horn or anything... but I am so proud of myself! :o) I started speaking very slowly and trying my best to say what I thought were all the correct words and she finally understood me! 15 minutes later a cab showed up and we made it to Tyler's game 10 minutes before it started. It was a good thing we got there so early and I am thankful we didn't have to walk through the winding roads in the mountains!

Tyler's team ended up losing but he had another great game (22 points, 12 rebounds) so it was still worth it getting to see him play. We didn't get back to Rome until about 11pm but our hotel had a rooftop bar and we were able to enjoy a beautiful view and a cocktail. We called it an early night so that we could enjoy a full day of sightseeing.

I am convinced that Italy has the most beautiful churches in the world. Although I haven't even experienced other churches in other countries, Italian churches are just breathtaking. We were able to see a few more churches in Rome and I am loving it more and more when we are able to visit churches. Everything is just so intricate, beautiful and I am always in awe. 

We were able to see the Colosseum and wow! Incredible! I felt so lucky to be able to see it. We took a tour and learned a little history about it but honestly if you are just able to see it, that is all you need. Just being able to walk around it and see it is unexplainable. The Colosseum is also right next to the Roman Forum which is ruins of ancient Rome. Again, just amazing to see what has survived from so, so long ago. Whenever Tyler and I are at places like the Leaning Tower or the Colosseum or the cathedral in Milan, we are like "Are we really experiencing this right now?" We have gotten to visit so many historic things these past few months and we don't take it for granted. 

My favorite part of the day, besides The Colosseum and the Roman Forum, was seeing the Trevi Fountain. I just loved it! It is so beautiful and it was fun tossing coins and making wishes. Among the other places that we saw were the Pantheon, San Pietro in Vincoli, Monument a Vittorio Emanuele II, and Santa Maria Maggiore. There is so much to do in Rome and we only had seven hours to do it in, but I think we packed in a lot in those seven hours!

Santa Maria Maggiore

Santa Maria Maggiore

Santa Maria Maggiore

Santa Maria Maggiore

Colosseum

Colosseum

Colosseum

Colosseum

Roman Forum

Roman Forum

Roman Forum

Roman Forum

Roman Forum

Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain

The ten days flew by and Erica and Dan left early Wednesday morning. I feel a little guilty sending them back to that snow! Is it ever going to warm up there?! I really do not want to come home to snow! Hopefully by May it will warm up :) Ok this post is long enough.... Until next time! :)